Rookie OT Dan Moore Speaks on his Growth Following First Preseason

One of the biggest surprises of this preseason has been the play of rookie offensive tackle Dan Moore Jr. Moore Jr. was a fourth round selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2021 NFL Draft, with the expectation that he wouldn't be ready to play this season. The reason being was that he had been looked at as a developmental project for a team that was in need of offensive tackles. It could be safe to say that the Steelers liked enough of what they saw from last year's starter Chukwuma Okorafor as well as what they saw from Zach Banner before he went down with a season ending injury to allow both to carry on their respective starting tackle roles. So far, Moore Jr. has made it extremely difficult to leave his name out of that starter conversation.

As of the Steelers final preseason game of the season against the Carolina Panthers, the rookie offensive tackle made arguably the most strides of anyone on this football team. He ended the preseason as the highest graded rookie according to Pro Football Focus, with an overall score of 82.1 (Washington OT Sam Cosmi is 2nd at 81.8), and has been continuously praised by his coaching staff throughout training camp.

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After the Steelers final preseason game, Moore Jr. addressed the media on how his game adapted at the NFL level. He admitted to facing some challenges and putting in the work to overcome them.

"A tremendous amount,” Moore said when asked how much he’s grown as a player this year. “The amount of snaps I’ve gotten, the help that I’ve gotten from vets—offense and defense—the coaches, I think I’ve grown so much."

“Alex Highsmith, Melvin Ingram, Cam [Heyward], a lot of those guys. Chris Wormley, even some of the linebackers. Huge help.” Moore said of the defenders who have been helping him hone his craft at the professional level.

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As far as where Moore Jr. will be lining up for this upcoming season, that is still left in question. While both Banner and Okorafor are listed as the respected starters for the 2021 campaign, it's unclear if Banner is healthy enough to go in Week 1. 

Today at practice, it was reported that Okorafor moved to right tackle and Moore Jr. took reps at left tackle. That's the first time it's happened all preseason. That could be an indication of Banners health, or they could just be looking at more options.

“It’s definitely been a challenge, especially going to the right,” Moore said. “I’m not very comfortable on the right side. But like I said, just getting more reps and having a great defense to challenge me every day and a great coaching staff to help me with the game plan definitely helps, for sure.”

Do you think Moore Jr. will get an opportunity this season? Comment below!

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